A Window into City Living

Graphic designer José Guízar is fixated on a window into New York life that other people might look right past—actual city windows that are featured on his website.

March 5, 2013 1:53 p.m. ET

fullscreen

José Guízar, 26 years old and pictured here in SoHo, has created the website Windows of New York, which features colorful illustrations of shuttered, barred and even air-conditioner-covered windows that have caught his eye around the city.
Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal…

Mr. Guízar is pictured in front of one of the buildings he illustrated for the website, 113 Thompson St. A New Yorker for only a year, Mr. Guízar said he started drawing the largely unnoticed building feature because he never wants to overlook the city's architectural quirks.
Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal…

Here, an illustration from his website of a window at 113 Thompson St. Mr. Guízar sets the windows against a monochromatic background and uses only a few colors in the illustration of the window itself. The bright backgrounds are a nod to colorful architecture in Mexico, Mr. Guízar's home.
José Guízar / Windows of New York…

A photograph of 290 Lafayette St .provided by Mr. Guízar. 'The hardest part is to get something so static and make it look alive,' he says.
José Guízar…

Here, an illustration from his website of a window at 290 Lafayette St. Mr. Guízar said he is drawn to this style of illustration because he prefers minimalism and simplicity in his work, 'the very basics of graphic design.'Jose Guizar…

Here, an illustration from his website of a window at 219 East 4th Street. 'I'm not looking for the most iconic windows or even the most beautiful…just interesting windows,' he said. The illustrations are accompanied by the address of the building. 'It makes the windows real, people can relate to them.'
José Guízar / Windows of New York…

Here, an illustration from his website of a window at 92 Christopher St. Ideally, Mr. Guízar would love to see the windows in print, but for now he's working on creating a collection of up to 100 illustrations for the website. 'My wish is, whenever I finish it, whenever I feel like it's done, is when I've walked everywhere, I've explored everywhere,' he says. 'That would be awesome.'José Guízar / Windows of New York…